Why do scientists argue about the height of a volcano?

Question

I searched with yahoo, google, dogpile, almost everything u can think of but I could not find the answer. Please help it is for a project.

Answer 1

I don't know that they argue about the height as much as the height can change. As a volcano produces lava and ash, it can build up it's height. If there's a blockage where the lava needs to flow, it can erupt rather explosively and knock out a part of the existing cone, like Mt. Saint Helens did when it erupted. This can make a volcano "shorter".

So when a volcano is measured at different times, the actual height may be different.

There are also different measurements that are used - The height of the top of the volcano from it's immediate base (flat lad around it) or the height from sea level. Some measurements can be the height from sea level or base to the top of a lake or lava pool inside the volcano. So any one volcano can have lots of different measurements.

See this link for more on volcanos and measurement: http://www.volcano.si.edu/faq/index.cfm?faq=04